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Sonic the Hedgehog

aka: 3D Sonic the Hedgehog, SEGA AGES: Sonic the Hedgehog, STH, Sonic 1, Sonic the Hedgehog Classic, Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis
Moby ID: 6579
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Conversion (official) Included in See Also

Description official descriptions

Sonic the Hedgehog is the first of many games starring Sega's premier hedgehog, Sonic. It's a side-scrolling platform game with a difference: speed. Sonic rushes through levels with incredible speed, allowing him to traverse loops and jumps with ease.

The plot of the game is simple. The evil Dr. Robotnik has captured many of Sonic's animal friends and trapped them inside robots. Fortunately, Sonic can free his friends by destroying the robots with his spin attack. Meanwhile, Dr. Robotnik is trying to control the all-powerful chaos emeralds. Sonic must grab them before he does in the 3D rotating bonus levels.

Sonic's weapon is his spin attack; while jumping, Sonic destroys hostile robots by touch. Throughout the platforming levels, Sonic collects numerous rings. If Sonic is hit by an enemy, all the rings he's carrying fall out and scatter around; Sonic can quickly grab the rings back before they disappear. If Sonic is hit while not carrying any rings, he dies. Collecting 100 rings gives Sonic an extra life. There is also an invincibility bonus which temporarily protects Sonic from all attacks.

The game is divided into several "zones", each of them containing three levels. At the end of each zone, Sonic confronts Dr. Robotnik in a boss fight.

Spellings

  • SEGA AGES ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ - Japanese Nintendo Switch spelling
  • ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ - Japanese spelling
  • 바람돌이 소닉 - Korean spelling

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Credits (Genesis version)

13 People (11 developers, 2 thanks)

Game Plan
Program
Character Design
Design
Sound Produce
Sound Program
Special Thanks
Presented by
  • Sega
Cover Artwork (JP/EU)
Cover Artwork (US)

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 83% (based on 84 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 422 ratings with 13 reviews)

Enter the hedgehog...

The Good
This is one of the games you would be hard pressed not to love. Everyone who has played this often can easily say they have a favorite level by far because they're all distinct and vibrant, each with music to match. Ask any sonic fan their favorite level and they could tell you in an instant. And can hum the theme from at least one level, as well!

Add to that, the gameplay is as addictive as it is simple.

It also has, quite possibly, THE most iconic character ever, if not, damn does Sonic come close.

The Bad
Hmmm... this could take forever to figure out.

The Bottom Line
The game of games of the era, if you have not played this, you're not a retro gamer, and unfortunate if you have not.

Genesis · by Starbuck the Third (22596) · 2010

And so it begins...

The Good
Everything. This was my first game i've ever played in my entire life, so you can see how I got so darn hooked. This game has a good story, time-worthy AI, good graphics for the Genesis, and just a great experience that'll leave you wanting to play again. Dr. Robotnik is a real pain in the ass with a new invention at the end of each stage, but you can beat him, can't ya?

The Bad
Nothing. I loved this game and every single cell of silicon and plastic that makes it.

The Bottom Line
If you've never heard of this game, I wouldn't even talk to that person to describe it to them.

Genesis · by Kain Ceverus (30) · 2007

The genesis of Sonic the Hedgehog is a blast to play

The Good
Great graphics, character designs and music. The bonus stages look cool. Gameplay is simple, yet fun that anyone can play because it only uses the d-pad and one button.

The Bad
Getting hit results in losing all your rings, which can be frustrating if you are getting close to the end of the stage to play the bonus stage and being close to getting 100 rings to get an extra life. Some stages like Labyrinth Hill Zone and Marble Hill Zone feel like a chore to play because it doesn't let you run fast throughout the level. You can't save your progress.

The Bottom Line
You have no excuse not to play this classic because it's virtually on every game platform.

Wii · by 45th&47th (2232) · 2024

[ View all 13 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
About the new trivia ケヴィン (4137) May 25, 2011

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Genesis version of Sonic the Hedgehog appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Android release

In the beginning menu, the original Mega Drive case is displayed; original game cartridge is too, when tapping to start a game. An option allows choice on viewing Japanese, United States, or European case and cartridge.

Chaos emeralds

Of all the Sonic games, Sonic the Hedgehog is the only game to have only 6 Chaos Emeralds. Every other game in the series features 7 Emeralds.

Compilations

Sonic the Hedgehog was included on compilations for many platforms, including Sega Smash Pack: Volume 1 for Dreamcast, Sonic Mega Collection for Gamecube and Sonic Mega Collection Plus for Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Windows.

Creation of Sonic

  • At the time when Sega was trying to design a character that was fast, one illustration drawn by one of the people working on the project depicted Sonic singing in a rock band with (you ready for this?) his girlfriend Madonna! They took the concept and dropped Madonna out of it!

  • While designing the game, the animal that Sega was thinking of using before the Hedgehog was a Rabbit. Sega cut it out and added the Hedgehog instead.

  • Sonic the Hedgehog came about as the result of an internal contest held by Sega to design a company mascot. Among the entries came the first designs for Eggman (Robotnik) as well.

Development

In many early screenshots of the Marble Zone, there are UFO-like objects floating in the sky. Footage of a prototype Marble Zone (complete with UFOs) is shown during a commercial in the movie Wayne's World. No one knows what the objects were for, or why they were removed.

Dreams Come True

The Japanese rock group Dreams Come True, who also composed all of the music for Sonic the Hedgehog (as well as Sonic 2 and Sonic CD), also helped promote Sonic in Japan! During one major tour they took across Japan in the summer of 1991, they had murals of Sonic painted onto the trucks that carried their equipment to get the people's attention. And then to make it even better, their song "Sweet Sweet Dream" was chosen to be the ending theme for Sonic 2!

Dr. Eggman

Dr. Eggman's name was changed to Dr. Ivo Robotnik for all English language versions. He would retain this name for all his English language appearances right up until Sonic Adventure , when it was intentionally phased out and restored to Dr. Eggman, presumably because that game heralded Sonic's return to glory and there was a desire for him to return to his roots. However, the Robotnik name was officially acknowledged in Sonic Adventure 2 , even in the Japanese continuum.

Formula 1 sponsorship

With sponsorship from SEGA, Sonic appeared on the Williams Formula 1 team in 1993. The hedgehog could be seen on the drivers' cars, and their helmets. Their rival team McLaren would often paint a squashed Sonic on their drivers' helmets after winning a race against Williams. Williams, however, would have the last laugh, when their team leader Alain Prost, secured the drivers' championship, and with the help of Damon Hill, the constructors' championship for 1993.

Game Boy Advance version

The 2006 GBA release is a port of the Genesis version. It includes a new save system and the Anniversary Mode, where the spin dash (a feature that enables Sonic to roll into a ball and rev up a spin attack from a dead stop, not available in the original game) has been added.

Japanese version

Curiously, though the game was developed entirely in Japan, Sonic the Hedgehog was first released in North America and Europe, with the Japanese release coming a month later. The Japanese version features several bug fixes and visual effects that didn't make it into the initial international release. In particular, the infamous "spike bug" (where if Sonic hits spikes, and the hit knocks him into another set of spikes, he dies immediately even though he should still be invulnerable) is fixed. The parallax scrolling in the background of many zones is enhanced, and there are additional water effects in Labyrinth Zone.

Mobile version

The mobile edition is ported from the Genesis version. In Europe, the game was not released as a whole, but in two individual parts: Sonic the Hedgehog Part 1 and Sonic the Hedgehog Part 2.

References

  • The Genesis version of the game is referenced in the third and the fourth episode of the first season of the American television drama series Rectify. A lead character Daniel Holden finds a box with a Genesis console and some games in the attic. Later on he is shown playing the original Sonic the Hedgehog. It reflects how he thinks back about his youth.

Sales

The original Sonic The Hedgehog game for Sega Genesis sold 4 million units worldwide. As of 2003 the whole Sonic series (for all consoles) sold over 27 million units since its first release in 1991.

Scrap Brain Zone

The Scrap Brain Zone was originally called the Clock Work Zone.

Television

Shortly after the game had been released, South African Movie Network Channel M-NET held a special themed competition on Saturday mornings. The set-up was that players would phone in and play Sonic The Hedgehog on the TV, controlling the character via a phone. Prizes were awarded based on the number of rings held at the end of a strict time limit. If the contestant had more than 50, he'd win the grand prize of a new Mega Drive with games.

Awards

  • EGM
    • 1992 Buyer's Guide - Best Game of the Year
    • 1992 Buyer's Guide - Best Genesis Game of the Year
    • 1992 Buyer's Guide - Best Graphics
    • 1992 Buyer's Guide - Hottest Character in a Game
  • FLUX
    • Issue #4 - #4 in the "Top 100 Video Games of All-Time" list
  • Game Informer
    • August 2001 (Issue #100) - #24 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll
  • Retro Gamer
    • October 2004 (Issue #9) – #11 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)
    • Issue #37 - #13 in the "Top 25 Platformers of All Time" poll
  • The Strong National Museum of Play
    • 2016 – Introduced into the World Video Game Hall of Fame


Additional information contributed by 雷堂承太朗 -djsw-, Ace of Sevens, Big John WV, DOS Boot, Marguerite Richardson, MegaMegaMan, Mumm-Ra, PCGamer77, Robbb and Sciere.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by quizzley7.

Android added by GTramp. Nintendo 3DS, DoJa, Arcade added by Michael Cassidy. Nintendo Switch added by Rik Hideto. Wii added by Guy Chapman. BREW added by firefang9212. iPad, PlayStation 3, Game Boy Advance, tvOS, iPhone, J2ME, BlackBerry added by Sciere. Xbox One added by Artzei. Macintosh, Linux added by Foxhack. iPod Classic added by Kabushi. Windows added by lights out party. Xbox 360 added by Ben K.

Additional contributors: Satoshi Kunsai, paul cairey, chirinea, Sciere, Alaka, Robbb, Patrick Bregger, mailmanppa, Starbuck the Third, Thomas Thompson, GTramp, Rik Hideto, is_that_rain_or_tears, FatherJack, Harmony♡, Deleted, SoMuchChaotix.

Game added June 6, 2002. Last modified October 30, 2024.